Get Ready For A Cold Arctic Blast!

Get Ready For A Cold Arctic Blast!

Make some outdoor plans, because today is another beautiful day across the Tennessee Valley! Morning lows were mostly in the 30s, with Scottsboro and Fort Payne being the cold spots, with temperatures in the upper 20s. Temperatures are warming up pretty efficiently, thanks to a sunny sky. Below are 10:00 am temperatures.

A weakening cold front has almost pushed south of the Tennessee Valley this morning, with the only noticeable change being a wind shift out of the north. Despite the wind shift, high temperatures will still warm above average for mid-late January for most, into the mid to upper 50s. Tonight will be cold and mostly clear again as temperatures cool into the upper 20s and low 30s.

Monday there will be more clouds building in as a stronger cold front moves through as disturbances in the upper flow amplify the trough across the eastern half of the country, which will help to push a much colder arctic air mass towards the region early Monday. This front will also be dry as it passes through, but there will be increased clouds. High temperatures Monday will be reached early in the day, likely by late morning, with temperatures falling quickly into the 30s during the afternoon, thanks to a blustery northwest wind behind the front. Tuesday morning will be the coldest morning so far this season as temperatures in many spots dip into the mid to upper teens, especially near and north of the Tennessee River, farther south will be in the low 20s. With a light breeze expected, wind chills could be in the single digits. Below is a map of the Southeast forecast temperatures for Tuesday morning at 6:00 am central time. You can see the freezing line will be down along the northern Gulf Coast, with the 16 degree isotherm starting to dip south of the Cumberland Plateau in southern middle Tennessee.

High temperatures Tuesday will struggle to warm up, with many only briefly warming above freezing for a couple hours. By Wednesday and especially into Thursday temperatures start to moderate before another cold front pushes through on Friday. This front will return rain chances to the forecast, along with another cold blast. If cold air rushes in before the rain ends, a brief transition to light wintry precipitation is possible, along with potential black ice developing with wet roadways. As the system gets closer, we will have a better idea of the timing of the cold air moving in and if wintry precipitation or black ice will be an issue. Continue checking back here for the latest updates on the forecast!